


A High Probability of Compatibility

by Luzula



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Comrades in Arms, First Time, M/M, Mission Fic, Post-Canon, Robots Almost Make Them Do It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-31 19:08:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21150731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luzula/pseuds/Luzula
Summary: After Scarif, Bodhi goes back to Jedha to work with disaster relief--until Cassian comes by and needs a pilot for a mission.





	A High Probability of Compatibility

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rivulet027](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivulet027/gifts).

> Rivulet027, I hope you enjoy this! : ) You didn't express any preference for this (or any) pairing in your sign-up, but you've bookmarked fics with this pairing, so I deduced that it would hopefully be welcome. 
> 
> Thanks to Mergatrude for beta reading!

The weeks and months after surviving Scarif were somehow both the most painful and the most joyful in Bodhi's life. He was alive. Cassian and Jyn and Baze and Chirrut were alive, though many of Rogue One had died. They'd got the plans out. But Jedha--Jedha was in ruins. 

Bodhi and Baze and Chirrut had all three gone back there, or at least to what was left of it. From space, Jedha was wreathed in dust storms, from which emerged pieces of the planetary crust that were all that was left of the Holy City. The dust storms would probably persist for years, or so he'd heard. Jedha had not been a densely populated moon to begin with, and many had died in the attack--probably most people on the hemisphere closest to the Holy City, in fact. But many were still alive, and they needed help. 

Bodhi had never been so grateful to be a pilot. They'd scavenged a huge old freighter, which he used to bring people up from the surface, and transport them to any of the several systems who'd offered to take in refugees. Jedha still meant something to many people in the galaxy, and the destruction of the Holy City had led to an outpouring of offers of help. Bodhi still got tears in his eyes sometimes when he helped fill his hold with food, dust masks and other equipment to take back down to the surface. 

And from the Empire, nothing. He'd heard they were spreading the news it'd been a mining accident, but everyone knew the truth. It was such a relief not to live under their shadow anymore, to hear an old woman curse them openly in the mess hall. With the khyber mines blasted, Jedha had nothing the Empire wanted anymore, and in a strange way that made them safe. He hoped. 

Bodhi got to know the people around him: the cooks who kept him fed, the old mechanic who kept his freighter from falling apart. And on the day he came back down from a run and found his older sister and her family waiting for him, Bodhi hugged them again and again, tears running down his cheeks. He'd been given back something he thought had been lost to him forever. His parents were dead, but his sister's family had survived. 

He took his seventeen-year-old niece on as an apprentice pilot, teaching her the tricks of how to coax good performance from the old freighter. 

Bodhi thought a lot about the Rebellion. He wished he could be there, but he wasn't a fighter pilot, and for the moment he could do better work here. But he'd join up again, when he could. He'd promised Cassian so, when he left for Jedha. 

And then, in the mess hall one night, Chirrut swayed and fell to the floor. Baze rushed to his side. "Alderaan," Chirrut whispered, his voice strangled. 

The news spread quickly. An entire planet destroyed! That could have been their fate. People gathered together, holding wakes through the night. 

And then, soon after: the news of the Death Star, destroyed. The tense mood of the last several days snapped like a whiplash into celebration. They toasted the pilots of the Rebellion until they got drunk, and the cooks tried their best to spice up the freeze-dried emergency supplies into Jedhan feast dishes. 

The next event was one that touched only Bodhi, not all the people on Jedha. 

One day when he'd just ducked back inside, taking off his dust mask and shaking his clothes off in the airlock-like structure of the building, the door opened again and let in someone else, along with a cloud of dust. Bodhi could only see the lines of his body; his face was obscured by the dust mask, but Bodhi knew him immediately. 

"Cassian!" he said, crossing the room in two strides. 

Bodhi grinned at Cassian as he tugged off his dust mask, surprised himself at the joy that sprang up inside him. "Hi! I'm so glad to see you." 

Bodhi couldn't help opening his arms for a hug, and Cassian gave him a quick hard hug back. "And I'm glad to see you. You're just who I'm looking for." 

"What, you came down here for me?" Bodhi wanted to hug him again, feel that strong spare body against his own, but no. He should probably have some dignity. 

Cassian nodded. "I need a pilot. The Rebellion needs a pilot, someone who knows the Empire. Do you want to help?" 

Well, of course he did, but-- "I want to. But let me check first, I need to know if there are any urgent shipments."

"Of course," Cassian said. He scratched his head, looking rueful at the cloud of dust that appeared. 

"It gets everywhere," Bodhi said. "Shake off as much as you can, then come inside. There's dinner, if you want." 

He refrained from introducing Cassian proudly as a hero of the Rebellion. Cassian was a spy; he would probably not appreciate that. Instead, he watched Cassian maneuver his way easily around conversations, mostly by asking sympathetic questions about the rescue efforts. 

Since he could be spared for a few days, he and Cassian set off the next day. Cassian turned out to have an Empire scoutship parked in orbit, and Bodhi raised his eyebrows admiringly and didn't ask any questions about where he'd got it from. 

K2 was waiting on the ship as well. "I see you got the pilot you wanted. Didn't want me along to spook people, I suppose?" 

Cassian rolled his eyes. "You know I didn't want to risk you getting clogged up by the dust." 

Bodhi was already looking over the cockpit, running his hands over the controls, checking the readouts. He'd flown these in training, though he'd mostly done freight runs later. He looked up to see Cassian's eyes on him. 

"All right?" Cassian asked, a small smile on his face as he watched Bodhi looking over the ship. 

"Yeah. Lovely ship," Bodhi said. And it was. The ship design was compact and sleek, with small crew quarters set into the side of the ship. "Well, except for the Empire aesthetics." 

"Yeah, sorry if all that black gives you flashbacks." 

"Hey, I'll take it if I can fly this beauty. I mean, I love my freighter on Jedha, but she handles like a bantha." But the thought of where he would be flying it sobered him. There could be only one reason why they would be flying an Empire ship. "So what's the mission?" he asked. 

"I can't tell you that." Of course. "But yes, we will be flying into Empire territory," Cassian said, bringing up a map with their destination. "I've got the proper codes, but you'll know the protocol better than I could, and help us blend in better. I'll handle the actual mission, though."

"While I wait in the ship?" Bodhi asked. 

"I think that would be safest. Although the Empire personnel records are a mess after the archive on Scarif went down, and I don't think you ever served on that station, did you?"

Bodhi was grinning in satisfaction. He'd just been thinking of the mission on Scarif in terms of the Death Star plans, but the thought of all that stuffy Empire bureaucracry thrown into disorder was a joy all on its own. "I think I did a run there once, but yeah, needle in a haystack. As long as you have another ID for me it should be fine. The pilot staying on the ship instead of going on-station wouldn't be suspicious. All ships except for the tiny TIE-fighters are equipped with everything you need including entertainment. How long will it take, though?"

Cassian tilted his hand to indicate uncertainty. "I can't say exactly. Hopefully only a couple of hours, but it could be up to a day."

Great. That wouldn't make Bodhi worry at all. But it wouldn't be helpful to say so, so he just nodded. "All right. Do you have a limit, like, if you're not back by a certain time, then I should...do something?"

"He has me along," K2 said. "I will help him blend in. Should the worst happen, I will take him into custody." K2's voice generators were fully up to the ironic sound needed to convey what he actually meant. "Don't worry, there's only an 11.7 chance that you'll have to abandon us here."

Bodhi's face must have shown his distress, because Cassian shot an annoyed glance at K2. "He's just bullshitting you. There's no way he could calculate such an uncertain probability so accurately. But yeah, if the worst should happen, you should leave without us." 

Cassian paused, to let it sink in, then said, "I've done a lot of undercover work, though, and this one isn't particularly high risk. We should be fine." 

Bodhi took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's do this. Just as long as I don't have to do the spy stuff, because I'm just not cut out for it."

"No, you're not." But Cassian's smile was kind. 

So Bodhi set out to do the things that he _was_ good at. He ran through the ship's safety checks, got the coordinates from Cassian, plotted their course, and they were off. The ship was wonderfully fast and responsive, reacting to just a light touch on the controls. Bodhi gave a happy sigh. 

While he handled the ship, Cassian briefed him on the current codes and together they concocted an excuse for the ship's presence on the station, using Cassian's knowledge of current affairs and Bodhi's knowledge of Empire protocol. Cassian changed into Empire uniform, distracting Bodhi considerably. Objectively he was handsome in those spare black clothes, but it looked horribly wrong. 

Bodhi, too, changed into the standard pilot uniform that Cassian provided for him. It was so familiar to zip up that jacket, but Bodhi felt a creeping sense of discomfort. "Did you kill someone to get this?" 

Cassian looked up. "No, of course not. We had a low-level defector who smuggled it out, along with some other stuff we needed." 

"Okay." Bodhi shrugged his shoulders, wishing he wasn't so sensitive. 

"I'm sorry," Cassian said. "All this must be bringing up memories." 

"Yeah. But I want to help."

"We appreciate it." 

Which was nice, but Bodhi increasingly wanted to be a part of that "we". That he wasn’t had been his own choice; he’d chosen to help out on Jedha instead – at least for now.

With an uncanny ability to follow Bodhi's thoughts, Cassian said, "What you do on Jedha is also part of the Rebellion. It's not just about flying X-wings or going on spy missions." 

"Thanks." Bodhi smiled, feeling warm inside. 

But they would be coming out of hyperspace near the station soon, and Bodhi concentrated on that. All too quickly they were out, heading stationward. His heart was pounding and his hands trembling very slightly as the query came and he made the rote replies, stating their business and giving the codes. He hoped Cassian's intel was good. 

It was. Bodhi shut down the comm and took a deep, shaking breath. He looked at Cassian, who gave him a thumbs up as they docked. Cassian didn't even look nervous, the bastard. 

"Good luck," Bodhi said, as Cassian made ready to leave, with K2 at his side. "And _come back._"

"We'll do our best," Cassian said, and then they were gone. 

Right. Now all he had to do was wait, while Cassian headed into danger. Bodhi got up and paced through the small ship. He wasn't cut out for this. 

Bodhi opened the sliding door to the small crew quarters and flopped down on one of the bunks there. Maybe he should sleep, but he knew he was too wired for that. 

He closed his eyes anyway, picturing Cassian in his mind, how he looked when Bodhi said something that made him smile, the feel of his body against Bodhi when he'd hugged him, imagined pressing Cassian up against the wall and kissing him, with Cassian's hands on his hips pulling him closer...

With a groan, he opened his eyes and tried to think about something else. He didn't know when Cassian would be back, but he was _not_ going to find Bodhi like that. 

Bodhi activated the panel in the wall and browsed through the information channels from the station. Not Imperial news, thank you. He wasn't in the mood for propaganda. Finally he settled on an episode of a serial drama (or melodrama, maybe) that he'd been into as a teenager--it was set several centuries in the past on Naboo. That managed to hold his attention, and he was in the fourth episode where the handmaiden was just about to confess her love to the Queen when there was a noise from the airlock. Bodhi jumped and came back to the present with adrenaline flooding his veins. Stormtroopers? Station intelligence? 

But no. It was just Cassian and K2. 

"Whew. You scared the life out of me," Bodhi said. "How'd it go?"

"Fine," Cassian said, shrugging off his jacket. "Let's get out of here. No particular hurry, though. Be casual."

Bodhi was, going through the usual procedures of disengaging and leaving. When they jumped into hyperspace, the rush of stars matched the rush of his triumphant emotions, and he grinned, turning to Cassian. 

"We did it! Or, I mean, you did it. I just sat in the ship and waited. But still."

"Yeah," Cassian said, smiling back. This was probably just an ordinary day at work for him, but for Bodhi, it was profoundly satisfying to stick it to the Empire like this. 

"Where do we go now?" 

"Well, we should probably sleep before we go anywhere. It's been a long day," Cassian said. 

"All right," Bodhi said. He still felt wired, but Cassian was probably right. He was hungry though. Bodhi pulled out of hyperspace in the middle of nowhere, out between the stars where they could float like a very small needle in the vast haystack of space. 

"Food first, though?" Bodhi said. "I brought some from Jedha."

He dug out some flat bread and spicy Jedhan stew from his baggage (the cooks had managed to get hold of some actual produce for once), and they got water from the ship's life support. 

"Oh good," Cassian said. "I always forget to eat when I'm out." 

They sat companionably in the pilot and co-pilot's seats, rolling the stew up in the bread. Silence sometimes made Bodhi nervous (one of several reasons why he would make a bad spy) but now he was happy just to sit there and eat with Cassian, after a good day's work. 

"K2, would you keep watch while we sleep?" Cassian said after they'd finished. 

"Of course," K2 said. "I don't have to waste half my life sleeping like you organics. I'll go over the data while I do." 

"Sounds good." 

They changed out of Imperial uniforms and lay down side by side in the tiny crew quarters, fully clothed since there were no sheets. Bodhi's hand brushed Cassian's while they settled down, and he felt the touch like a tingle through his whole body. 

"Good night," Cassian murmured, and turned out the light. Bodhi lay there in the dark, listening for Cassian's breathing but mostly hearing the low humming of the ship around him. They lay there like tiny but separate sparks of life enclosed by the thin shell of the ship, with only cold dark vacuum outside, He wanted to merge them temporarily together into one, roll over and dig his nose into Cassian's warm neck, find out what his hair smelled like. 

But he didn't. He lay there close beside Cassian and let the day wash through him. It had been a good day. It was a good day still. It was enough. 

***

He woke to the sound of Cassian pounding on the closed door of the crew quarters. It had been open when they went to bed. 

"K2? Why is this door closed?" 

"What?" Bodhi said, rolling over. "What's happening?"

"Who knows," Cassian said darkly. 

Bodhi sat up, his head suddenly clear. "Have we been boarded?" The chance of anyone finding them should be infinitesimal, but…

K2's voice came from outside. "I thought you two could use some privacy."

"_What?_" Cassian said. He was in his shirtsleeves, looking sleep-mussed and glaring at the door. 

"I ran the data we obtained at the station," said K2's voice from outside the door. "Which didn't take long, and then I got bored. So I ran the data on your interactions on the previous day, and found an 87% chance that you would enjoy sexual intercourse with each other. I thought I could help you with that. You humans are so inefficient at communication." 

"_What?_" Cassian said again. He buried his face in his hands. Then he took a deep breath and went back to glaring at the door. "K2, open that fucking door. You can take your probabilities and shove them up your back port. You can't _calculate_ whether people want to have sex with each other, that isn't how humans work!" 

"I'll have you know my predictions are accurate 91% of the time." K2 almost sounded hurt now. "I only have your best interests at heart. I'll let you have some time to reconsider." 

Well, K2 was certainly right on Bodhi's side of the equation, though he had no idea about Cassian. He never had been good at telling if people were interested in him. "Umm," Bodhi said intelligently. 

Cassian turned to him, looking deeply embarrassed. "I am so sorry," he said, leaning back against the wall of the small space. "You help me out with a mission and this is how you're repaid. K2 can be such a pain in the ass." 

So that's what Cassian looked like when he was blushing. "Well, if he thinks it would motivate us to have him listening at the door, he really doesn't understand humans," Bodhi said. 

"Well, that's for sure. Thanks for taking it so well." 

Bodhi sat up against the wall as well, taking care not to sit too close. "So how do we get out of here?"

Cassian sighed. "I guess we'll just wait him out. It's not like we're in a hurry, and he'll open the door when he feels he's made his point." 

Bodhi made an affirmative noise, and silence fell. It was a rather awkward silence, and to fill it Bodhi opened his mouth and out came: "Maybe he'd be satisfied with some porn noises? I bet there's some on the entertainment system." 

Well, that was definitely not going to make things less awkward. Bodhi felt like smacking himself. 

Cassian raised his eyebrows. "The Empire has a porn channel on their ships? Now that I would not have guessed." 

"Uh, no. But someone's bound to have put some files there. It always happens." 

Cassian considered. "Okay. I might regret this, but I'm just too curious now. Let's check it out."

"I mean, 90% of all porn is bad," Bodhi said. "And I can't even guarantee it'll be interesting." He turned on the entertainment system and rummaged around among the files. As he had expected, there was the anonymous folder. They scrolled down the list of titles. 

"Wait. There's stormtrooper porn?" Cassian asked. 

"Well, of course there is," Bodhi said. "There's porn of everything." 

"All right, let's further my education about the Empire," Cassian said, and Bodhi clicked on it.

They watched for a while in silence. 

"Huh. This is actually interesting for what it says about attitudes to stormtroopers," Cassian said. "I mean, it's...painfully bad. But interesting."

"All right, here comes the actual porn." 

Cassian snorted with laughter. "Wait, does stormtrooper armor actually do that?"

By now Bodhi was also sniggering. He held up his hands. "Don't look at me, I have no idea." 

"Let's turn it up for K2's benefit." Cassian turned up the volume until theatrical moans filled the small space. By now they'd both descended into a giggling fit, and they kept setting each other off again even after it was over. 

"So does the Rebellion have porn with X-wing pilots?" Bodhi asked. 

"I'm sure we would have if people weren't, you know, too busy fighting the Empire," Cassian said. 

He scooted over to the door and banged on it. "Hey K2, are you satisfied now? Come on, let us out!"

A pause, then the door opened. "I suppose that's progress," K2 said, not looking in the least contrite. 

"I'm glad you're happy," Cassian said sarcastically. "But _don't you ever do that to me again_, okay?"

"I promise not to shut you in a room with Bodhi again," K2 said promptly. 

"I notice you're not promising never to play matchmaker again," Cassian said darkly. "But I suppose that would be too much to ask." 

"So where are we headed now?" Bodhi asked. He wasn't sure "we" was the right word here--presumably he was going back to Jedha, and Cassian to whatever classified location the Rebellion was currently at. 

"Well, I have to go back to base," Cassian said. "I understand if your commitment to Jedha comes first, but I hope we've made it clear that you are very welcome with us. I know you're not a fighter pilot, but we need pilots in any capacity. And your knowledge of the Empire would be very valuable to us. We'd love to have you." 

"I--thank you," Bodhi said. Cassian's words hit him hard. It wasn't just that it was Cassian saying it, although that definitely helped. It was the feeling of being valued, the offer of being part of a community. 

"You could come along just for a day or two," Cassian said. "I think we've got a shipment of supplies to Jedha coming up, and if you could pilot that ship it would be a help with logistics." 

"Working hard on recruitment, I see," K2 commented. 

"Oh shut up," Cassian said irritably. 

Bodhi grinned. "Yeah, I'll come along. It'll be good to see Jyn and the rest of Rogue One, too." Or those who were left of them. 

So that was settled, and Bodhi went back to the pilot's seat. Cassian brought them some protein bars for breakfast and they ate while Bodhi powered up the ship and took them into hyperspace. 

The Rebel base turned out to be on an ice moon, immediately making Bodhi reconsider. "Brrrr," he said, looking down on it. "I get cold just looking at that." 

"Yeah, sorry." Cassian looked apologetic. "We have good cold-weather gear, though." 

Cassian called in their approach, so they wouldn't be shot down as an Imperial ship. Bodhi brought them down, the ship handling as well in atmosphere as it did in space, with its sleek aerodynamic shape. 

It was daytime on the moon, and Bodhi squinted his eyes half shut at the sparkling splendour of sunlight on pristine ice and snow. The base showed only as hollowed-out entrances in the ice. 

"Wow," he said, looking out the cockpit window. "I hadn't known it would be so beautiful. I mean, theoretically I know what snow is, but I'm from a desert planet." 

"I suspect you won't appreciate it as much when you're outside," Cassian said. 

They were waved into one of the base entrances, and Bodhi taxied the ship inside. He glanced up at the ceiling, and saw the struts holding up the ice above them. It was a large cavern holding X-wings and other small craft, with people working on what seemed to be routine maintenance tasks, all dressed in bulky clothes. 

Cassian pulled on a heavy parka and pants. "Wait here until I can get you some gear, okay?" he said, as he and K2 left.

Bodhi waited impatiently until the door opened, but it was Jyn, not Cassian, who came into the ship with more of the bulky clothes in her arms. 

"Jyn! I'm so glad to see you," Bodhi said. Jyn had always seemed a bit prickly to him, but he stepped towards her, offering a hug, and she stepped into it. 

"Sorry, Cassian got pulled into debrief immediately, so he sent me instead," Jyn said, hugging him back. "How's it going on Jedha?"

Bodhi put on the clothes and heavy boots she'd given him, and they went out into the cavern. "Better, I guess. I mean, the planet is never going to recover, but we're getting enough supplies so that people aren't starving, and we've got roofs over people's heads." 

The cold outside was sharp and dry and had teeth. Bodhi breathed in, and said, startled, "My nostrils are freezing up! I didn't know that happened."

Jyn laughed. "Welcome to Hoth. Pull your scarf up over your face, that helps." 

He did so. "So how are you doing?"

"I've just started pilot's training." Jyn looked proud. 

"Congratulations, that's great!" They stood there in the hangar talking until a vehicle honked at them to get out of the way. 

"Uh, is there maybe someplace else we can go?" Bodhi asked. 

"Dinner should be ready soon," Jyn said, and they headed to the mess hall. The base had a temporary feel to it, with bare ice alternating with machinery and plasteel struts with cables running along them. The mess hall was likewise cold, and the big vats of food steamed. They all grabbed bowls of thick soup, and sat down at one of the tables. Some of the other Rogue One survivors joined them, greeting him gladly. 

One of them called out to the room, "Hey, it's Bodhi Rook!" 

The room erupted into cheers and clapping, while Bodhi sat there dumbstruck. They were cheering for him, apparently. 

"Uh, thanks everyone," Bodhi found the courage to shout back. "I'm really glad to be here!"

They clapped some more, then the hall went back to its noisy conversation. 

"Are you staying here or going back to Jedha?" Jyn asked. 

"Going back to Jedha for now, but I'll be back eventually. My niece can hopefully take over what I'm doing there, if I can find a co-pilot for her." 

One of the other Rogue One survivors got up and came back with mugs of hot spiced caf for them. Bodhi curled his hands around the warm mug and drank gratefully. 

They stayed in the mess hall, which was apparently the place for hanging out even after dinner was over. Clusters of people began to bring out stronger drink than caf, or played cards. 

And then Bodhi saw Cassian slipping through the door, coming towards them, setting Bodhi's heart thumping with really no reason at all. 

"Good, you found each other," Cassian said. He looked tired. 

"They should let you rest when you come back," Bodhi said, indignant. "Have you eaten yet?" 

"Yeah, they're not starving me, I promise," Cassian said. "Did someone show you where the 'freshers are? I suppose you'll be staying in a temporary bunk for now." 

"You mean you have water 'freshers? Wow. I'd love that, actually." They'd never had that on Jedha even before the Empire wrecked it. "Uh, are the sleeping quarters this cold too?"

"No, we have heated cubicles for sleeping. Those of us who actually come from cold places say we would adapt better if we didn't, but the rest of us don't care. We just want to be warm." Cassian yawned. 

"It's fine, you can go sleep if you need to," Jyn said. 

"Oh, before I forget--that ship is scheduled for Jedha day after tomorrow," Cassian said. 

"All right, that sounds good," Bodhi said. One more day with Cassian! And Jyn, too. 

They got up, with mutual assurances of meeting up again tomorrow. Cassian led him to the showers. 

"I'll go find you a bunk," Cassian said. "Be back soon." 

The 'freshers were actually hot, and Bodhi shivered with pleasure as he soaped up and let the hot water run through his hair, probably carrying with it weeks of accumulated dust from Jedha. Funny how such a simple thing should be such a luxury. 

Of course, having wet hair wasn't great when you came out into the cold again. He pulled the hood of the parka over his head. Cassian was waiting for him. 

"Wow, the Rebellion is really prioritizing the right things," Bodhi said. "Hot water. Wow." He was repeating himself, but whatever. 

Cassian looked amused. "I'm glad you approve. Maybe we should put it in our recruitment propaganda. Join the Rebellion, get to use a 'fresher." 

"On Jedha we only have old sonic 'freshers that don't actually work that well," Bodhi said. "But I guess water isn't the limiting factor here." 

"No. And I think we're using the runoff water for heat--might as well wash with it first."

They were walking through a corridor of prefabricated insulated cubicles with nametags on them. 

"Here's mine," Cassian said, gesturing towards a cubicle identical to the others. "Home sweet home." 

"And mine?" Bodhi asked. 

"You'll get one for people just passing through." They stopped at a block of cubicles labeled "Temporary", and Cassian handed Bodhi a key. "Keep the door closed as much as possible, so you won't lose heat. I've put in bedclothes for you."

"All right," Bodhi said. "Thanks. So... see you tomorrow, I guess?"

"Yes," Cassian said. He seemed about to say something more, but in the end just said, "Good night," and moved down the line towards his own bed. 

The cubicle was tiny. Bodhi couldn't stand up straight in it--there was just room for a bed, with storage space for his stuff at the foot of it, and a shelf above the head. But it was blessedly warm, and Bodhi closed the door, took off his parka and hung it on a hook, revelling in not being out in the cold anymore. Yet again, the Rebellion showed a great sense of priorities. 

Bodhi peeled off his clothes and crept naked under the covers. Clean sheets, what a luxury. He turned out the light, and the cubicle was plunged in darkness. What a day. He went over it in his mind--seeing the ice, meeting Jyn again, the warm welcome in the dining hall. The morning with Cassian, after sleeping side by side. 

He wondered how much of his attraction to Cassian was because Cassian somehow symbolized the Rebellion for him. That he wanted to be what Cassian was, that he wanted Cassian's approval, because Bodhi wanted to be part of the Rebellion. Maybe so. But he didn't see what difference it would make--feelings were always complicated, always intertwined with each other. 

_Could_ Cassian actually be interested? K2 could of course be full of shit, but even so...it seemed at least possible. He thought about Cassian's smile when he first saw him on Jedha, the way they'd laughed together over that ridiculous porn. He seemed more open than the focused and reserved man he'd been on the Scarif mission. Then again, who wouldn't be more relaxed when they weren't on a suicide mission? 

Bodhi made a frustrated nose, then sat up and flipped the switch, blinking at the sudden light. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep like this, not knowing. His pulse ratcheted up at the thought of what he was about to do. He leaned his forehead against his knees and took a few deep breaths, then he put his clothes and boots back on and slipped out of his cubicle. 

Bodhi stood in front of Cassian's door. If he could defect from the Empire, he should be able to hit on a Rebel spy. The worst that could happen was that he wouldn't be interested. No risk of death and torture at all! Should be easy. Yeah, right. 

He knocked on the door before he could think better of it. 

Cassian opened. He was wearing just his undershirt and a pair of pants, strangely revealing after the bulky winter clothes. 

"Bodhi? Do you need something?" 

Bodhi shook his head. "I'm fine. I was just, um...wondering if you'd maybe be more interested without K2 listening at the door? " 

Cassian's eyes widened. Then he grinned. "Come in, you're letting out the warmth."

Bodhi did. Cassian scooted back on the bed while Bodhi took his outerwear off. He was glad of an excuse not to look at Cassian as he did so. Why was he so damnably shy sometimes? He slid onto the bed next to Cassian, their arms touching. 

"Hey," he said, making himself meet Cassian's eyes. Cassian's head was tilted and he was watching Bodhi with open appreciation in his gaze. Bodhi felt his cheeks heating. 

"Hey," Cassian said, smiling a little. His hands were crossed in his lap. 

They were perfectly ordinary hands. They were beautiful. Bodhi took one of them in his own, turned it over, uncurled Cassian's calloused fingers with his own, found the tender skin at the inside of his wrist, stroked his thumb across it. He heard Cassian's slight intake of breath. Then Bodhi leaned down and drew in the scent of him, kissed the palm of his hand, the inside of his wrist. He felt Cassian shiver beside him. 

"My turn," Cassian said in a low voice. He turned towards Bodhi and stroked away his hair, leaning in to kiss Bodhi's neck lightly. Bodhi felt goosebumps rising on his skin as Cassian nipped at his earlobe, sucking it into his mouth. He felt the small points of contact between them intensely, the places where their bodies met and sparked. 

"You have lovely hair," Cassian murmured, getting a little firmer grip on it. 

"Uh, thanks?" Bodhi said. 

Wanting more, he turned his head and Cassian met him as if sharing his thought, their lips and tongues meeting carefully in exploration. Cassian's hand was on the back of his head, gripping his hair, but only lightly. They were still only in contact in a few places, but Bodhi was turned on like a light, his body aching for more. Cassian tilted his head a little to deepen the kiss, and Bodhi moaned, he couldn't help it. 

After a while, they broke apart. "So do I need to be quiet?" Bodhi asked. "Can your neighbors hear this?" 

"No, it's fine," Cassian said. "Thick insulation, remember? As long as you don't scream." 

"I'll try to remember that." 

Just been kissed was a good look on Cassian. His expression was softer, his hair mussed. Bodhi went in for another kiss, and when they broke apart both of them were breathing more quickly. 

"Come here," Cassian said, lying back on the bed, and Bodhi went. 

At last, blessed contact. Bodhi hooked one leg around Cassian's, pulling him half on top. Bodhi liked Cassian's body on him, solid. This was why weightless sex wasn't actually that good--you couldn't get close enough, get enough pressure and friction. 

After a while, Cassian drew back, pulled his shirt over his head with a quick, economical motion. Clothes, yeah--Bodhi got rid of his as well. They tumbled together again, before Bodhi could get much of a look at him, which he really wanted to. But he forgot about that, because he was lost in the sensation of skin on skin. 

"I want to suck you," Cassian murmured against his throat, and Bodhi could only moan. "Yes?" Cassian prompted. 

"Yes. That was definitely a yes," Bodhi managed. 

Cassian sucked him with a careful focus, paying _attention_, and Bodhi felt like he was being played like an instrument, his every responsive sound or movement fed back into Cassian's actions. He was almost on the brink of coming when Cassian backed off. Bodhi begged him then, asking him to _please please don't stop_, at which Cassian gave a small satisfied smile and gave him a little more, edging him closer and finally over in a slow inevitable fall. 

Bodhi opened his eyes, after, and found Cassian looking at him, leaning on one arm. 

"That was...wow," Bodhi said. "Tell me what you want?"

"Just--touch me," Cassian said, and drew Bodhi's hand to his cock. Cassian wasn't like Bodhi himself, who probably babbled his pleasure for all the world to hear. He was controlled, though Bodhi could feel his arousal in the way his cock twitched, and see it, in his subtle intake of breath, the way his eyes fell closed and his mouth opened when Bodhi stroked him. 

"You're lovely," Bodhi murmured. "I want to see what you look like when you come." 

Cassian huffed out a breath. "You will. And soon." 

Another time (please, let there be another time) Bodhi would draw it out, would tease Cassian like he'd done with Bodhi. But this time, he sped his hand up until Cassian let out a soft sound and stiffened. Something in Bodhi wanted to see Cassian lose more of his control, and he leaned down and took Cassian in his mouth even as he was coming. Cassian gave a stifled cry and curled up around Bodhi. 

They both lay there, Cassian's breathing gradually slowing, until Cassian murmured, "Determined to make my neighbors hear us, were you?"

"Sorry," Bodhi said insincerely. 

Cassian snorted. "You don't mean that." He reached up to a shelf to get a bottle of water, drank, and then offered it to Bodhi. 

"K2 will never let me forget this, if he finds out," Cassian said. "He'll take all the credit and use it as an excuse to try to micromanage my love life." 

"Would you have said anything otherwise?" Bodhi asked. 

"Maybe, maybe not? I'm...probably too guarded, sometimes. I suppose it's a hazard of my work. But for me, I think I've been pretty obvious." 

Bodhi wondered if Cassian had ever had to use sex in his intelligence work. He wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer. 

"Well, I'm not great at flirting myself," Bodhi said. "Mostly because I'm bad at figuring out when people are interested in me."

"If you had stayed in the dining hall, I'm sure you would have found more than enough people who would've been happy for you to share their bed. You're a hero, you know."

"Oh, come on," Bodhi protested. 

"Didn't you notice everyone cheering for you?" 

"I am _not_ a hero. I was an Imperial pilot for years. I'm surprised people trust me." 

Cassian just shook his head at him. 

They were lying side by side now, the bed just wide enough that they could do so without being crammed together. Bodhi almost wished they were--he had cooled down now and wanted to roll closer, to go to sleep curled together, but wasn't sure if Cassian would want to or not. Should he go back to his own bed? 

Well, he couldn't know if he didn't ask. His heartbeat speeding up a little, Bodhi said, "I'd love to stay here, but if you want to sleep alone, I understand."

"I'm not throwing you out into the cold," Cassian said, rolling over and pulling the blanket over them both. "Come here." 

Bodhi came. Cassian turned out the light, and in the darkness it was somehow easier to do the things that were about closeness rather than sex, about gentleness rather than urgency. 

"Just to warn you," Cassian murmured. "Sometimes I--dream. Shake me if I kick you or something." 

"Yeah," Bodhi said. "I dream, too." It didn't feel necessary to talk about what their dreams were about. They could probably both imagine. 

Like last night, they were together in a cocoon of warmth, surrounded by the cold. But this time it wasn't the vacuum of space, but the ice of a planet. And they weren't really alone--they were surrounded by the rest of the rebels, their community, their comrades in arms. 

Bodhi lay with Cassian in his arms and felt him falling asleep, muscles twitching a little at some dream or impulse, his breath slow and even. 

Bodhi hadn't expected that he would find such happiness, even if only for a night. The galaxy was at war. Millions had died, and more battles were to come. Yet he was here, lying in temporary warmth and safety and in the arms of a man he loved and admired. Perhaps it wasn't the kind of thing you could deserve, but still, he would work to deserve it, would work for Jedha and for the Rebellion and for Cassian. 

Bodhi drifted off to sleep. If he dreamed, his dreams did not disturb him.


End file.
